); Isaiah 49:13-23 (God comforts the suffering); Matthew 18:1-14 (Become like a child) (Jubilee Bible 2000)
Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
1 ¶ Halelu-JAH. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights.
2 Praise ye him, all his angels; praise ye him, all his hosts.
3 Praise ye him, sun and moon; praise him, all ye stars of light.
4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens and ye waters that are above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD; for he commanded, and they were created.
6 He has established them for ever and ever: he has made a law which shall not be broken.
7 ¶ Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons and all deeps,
8 fire and hail; snow and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word,
9 mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars,
10 beasts and all animals; creeping things and flying fowl,
11 kings of the earth and all the peoples, princes and all judges of the earth,
12 both young men and maidens, the old with the children,
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD; for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above earth and heavens.
He
14 has exalted the horn of his people; let all his merciful ones praise him; even of the sons of Israel, the people near unto him. Halelu-JAH.
13 ¶ Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD has comforted his people and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
14 But Zion said, The LORD has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Even though they may forget, I will not forget thee.
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
17 Thy builders shall come in haste; thy destroyers and those that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
18 ¶ Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thyself with them all, as with a garment of honour and shalt be girded by them as a bride.
19 For thy waste and thy desolate places and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and those that destroyed thee shall be separated far away.
20 Even thy sons which were fatherless, shall say in thine ears, The place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell.
21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who has begotten me these, seeing I had lost my children and was desolate, a stranger removed from my land? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
22 Thus has the Lord GOD said, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and raise up my banner as an example to the peoples: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their princesses thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for those that wait for me shall not be ashamed.
18 ¶ At the same time the disciples came unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens?
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them
3 and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of the heavens.
5 And whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name receives me.
6 But whosoever shall cause one of these little ones who believe in me to fall, it would be better for him that a millstone such as is turned by an ass be hanged about his neck and that he be sunk in the depth of the sea.
7 ¶ Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!
8 Therefore if thy hand or thy foot cause thee to fall, cut them off and cast them from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into eternal fire.
9 And if thine eye causes thee to fall, pluck it out and cast it from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.
10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in the heavens their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens.
11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 What do you think? If a man had a hundred sheep and one of them went astray, would he not leave the ninety-nine and go into the mountains and seek that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he finds it, verily I say unto you, he rejoices more of that one than of the ninety-nine who did not go astray.
14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in the heavens that one of these little ones should perish.
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